Ki Horizons - [Litrpg, Adventure, Power Levels]

"RAGGHHH!!!!"

Fuck fuck fuck.

Fire hurt. It hurt a lot.

I could still feel my hair on fire, my scalp screaming in pain. My back had taken the worst of it and my pants were rapidly becoming cinders. Still, it was far from the worst problem. That was-

"RAGHHH!!"

Heavy footsteps like the weight of a titan slammed down behind me, the speed horrifying. I was running as fast as I could, uncaring for what was in my way. Any amount of slow down would find me between razor sharp metal teeth, chewed into pieces. The roars of the giant metal T-Rex behind me weren't just roars, they were a sonic attack, constantly attempting to unstable or unbalance me, but they were weak compared to the shockwaves of two level hundreds.

But the speed!

I felt it right behind me as I dashed through room after room, going so fast that they were more collections of snapshots than anything I had the time to take in.

Cubicle office, office full of wooden desks, cafeteria, room with a giant brain in a tank, parking lot, tunnels.

My heart hammered as the Mecha-Rex hunted me down. It was far faster, far stronger, far more durable, and it had more than a few advantages I simply didn't have. The only reason it hadn't already caught me is that while I ran through doorways, slid under desks, leaped over a kitchen, ran around the giant brain, and dashed past parked cars, it did none of that.

It simply rammed through everything and anything in its path, trailing a way of chaotic destruction. Shattering my eardrums and when it thought it was close enough-

I dodged simply by the feeling of heat at my back, as a wave of flames engulfed the room I was within. It seemed to be a…

My mind nearly froze but I didn't have the time to decipher why I was looking at a burning daycare.

I dove through another room, every one seemingly having at least one entrance and exit. The Mecha-Rex followed, smashing apart the room.

I had a plan. I didn't know I had a plan until I realized where I was running to. This area was covered in dense, dense metal, strong enough to survive many things. If I could just get to a narrow hallway-!

There!

I dove, barely dodging the gleaming silver teeth that were inches away from tearing me to shreds. I entered the tunnel and-

Bang.

The sound of metal on metal clashing with the force of a fifty ton monster rang out, feeling like a punch to the chest. I saw as the Mecha-Rex was blocked, unable to get to me. For the first time in I didn't know how long, I could breathe. I wasn't out of danger, not by a long shot, but I wasn't moments away from being torn apart or discovering some horrible atrocity or being chased by something over 50% stronger than my power level.

My relief was short lived, injuries across my body making themselves known. I now stood in nothing but my poor underwear, my pants having long been burnt away. My back was burning, though I could not tell if it was literally doing so or not. My face was partially melted from the Ki beams, an extra bone or two was broken somewhere, and my hair was a mess of ash. The smell of burning hair lingered, mixed with that of blood and sweat.

I was a mess and yet, I'd been worse off before.

I could still stand, after all.

The pain was starting to get to me and every part of me wanted to do nothing more than sleep as the Mecha-Rex impotently tried to break into the hallway and get to me. I looked around where I was, taking it in.

I saw something strange and the moment I realized what it was, I laughed.

A hole.

A hole going up through the ceiling. As I stumbled below it, I saw what it was truly. A hole, going all the way up. This, this must be where Cooler broke out. He must've gotten sick of this maze of hell as much as I had, though I'd seen far less destruction than I would've expected along the way. He did say he wished he had destroyed more.

I shook my head. Everything hurt, so, so much. I'd never been burned before and the pain was unlike anything I was truly used to. The closest were surprisingly the bullet wounds but they were nothing compared to it. God, everything hurt so much.

I focused. I wasn't the same as before. I couldn't afford to be the same. That would just get me killed.

As the Mecha-Rex continued to mindlessly try to get to me, even breathing fire down the corridor that couldn't even reach me, I stared upwards.

I could leave. It'd be a little hard to climb out of this hole and go directly upwards, but even a floor or two was fine. I could just take an elevator after I got a bit higher out of here.

Cooler's fight was beyond me. The Mecha-Rex was beyond me. Staying here just meant dying. Again and again. Dying like the other Mutai's. Dying like my family. Dying like-

"I'm afraid."

I slumped my back against the wall as the realization came out of me unbidden. The words just slipping out of me. My back screamed but the cool metal was more relief than agony.

I'm afraid. I… I never truly felt any different. I got stronger and faster, and even more durable! But… so what? My flesh could be pierced, my back burned, my body hurt. I was still so weak. So weak. I couldn't even stand in the same room as Cooler. Was I… Was I even any different than when I'd started? I still felt like that same Mutai on day one, punching that bag. The same Mutai that had drunk himself stupid and only not gotten in debt because it was too much of a hassle. The same Mutai that had begged on the streets and cried and thought about killing himself so very frequently. I was the same as I had always been. Just, just scared and weak. Too weak. Too weak to do anything.

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All of me, all of me's, just so weak. In body, in mind, in spirit.

And those me's were dead. So many of me. So, so, so many. The same power level, the same body, the same… everything.

What if it had been me? This me? What if I had woken up in a tank, only to see a blast of light coming my way? Forced to suffer experiments only to die from them shortly after? Had horrible tumors grown over me, just, just to come back as an undead and be eaten by rats?

I was the same as them. I'd killed them. It was my fault. My inborn weakness had killed them.

What made me any different from them?

I was just… a man. A weak man. One of a thousand more that had died.

Shambling, weak meat slapping on the floor. Rats infesting them, gnawing on them. Those dead empty eyes stared back at me as a wave of fur extinguished the remains. Me. It was me. It was all me, all along.

I was going to die if I went back there. There was nothing I could do. That Director… he'd looked at me like I was, something else. A warm body that would soon be cold. It sent shivers up my spine.

I stared down at my hands. Shaking.

I had gained strength but… but had I gained any character? Had I changed at all? Was I just, was I just Mutai, the 'Ultimate Weakling'?

Was I any stronger really? Where It mattered?

Was I just a walking corpse?

I looked at the metal beast making surprising progress into the tunnel and then the hole. I could just leave. I, I could just leave. What was I even going to do? Cooler would- I couldn't help him. Hell, I barely knew him! I didn't owe him anything. I'd just leave. I couldn't- I couldn't-

Blood.

I stiffened.

A sword coming down. A friend in a pool of blood. His organs exposed.

A woman's life leaves her eyes.

A man, his body missing his head.

A red eyed man, breaking down, on the brink.

A crater where a village once stood.

A man stands tall before three enemies, their power eclipsing him. Death is certain but the cost is too much to bear not to stand up.

"I'm an idiot."

I turned around, staring into the eyes of a monster trying to reach me. That was death, like so many kinds I'd seen before. And yet, despite everything… I began to laugh at it. It started as a chuckle but soon grew and grew before a grin plastered itself across from me, full of anger and pain.

"Death is scary… but it wasn't what made me want to kill myself. It wasn't what ruined my life. It wasn't what tore me away from my paradise. That was… always the death of others."

I stretched, grimacing hard in pain.

Fire hurt. Everything hurt. Except one thing.

My soul still felt well.

"Hah. I might as well be in perfect health then."

"RAGGHHHHHH!"

"Yeah yeah. I get it. You're mad. I'm mad. Everyone's mad. Everyone wants to kill each other. It's that kind of day. Too bad for you. You're in my way."

I stared, my own anger and determination rising as my soul and body swelled with power. I felt my muscles tighten as I got into a stance.

"I don't have time to play with you. I need to go save someone."

I didn't know Cooler that well. I didn't owe him much of anything. He'd protected me but even then, he was just someone I met today. And yet… he was an Ally. A friend. We shared the same enemies and that singular beam would've killed me. But even more than that… I simply wasn't an asshole. He was fighting and dying right now. Was I even a person if I didn't try to help him? Good people don't just let others die. They don't do nothing.

I'd never forgive myself if I became that sort of creature, the kind to run away out of fear, that let others die like that. It'd haunt me forever, knowing he was dead and I could've helped him.

I took a deep breath, preparing myself. I could take longer, think things through, really make a plan. Maybe even figure out some kind of way to take this Mecha-Rex down slowly. Maybe it had a battery or something. Options existed.

And while I did that, Cooler might die.

I didn't have that sort of time.

I opened my eyes, stared down the beast and-

Ran.

It roared, my whole body vibrating as my ears bled, but I didn't stop. The corridor had long melted from the heat of its blasts. And yet, my feet did not stop, my heart beat steady for the first time in a long, long while.

I punched.

My fist landed square on its jaw, its glowing red eyes seeming to widen for a moment, as it took a single mighty step back.

No damage. If anything, I only pissed it off more.

I grinned up at it.

"So you're stronger? Faster? More durable? Who cares?! You're in my way!"

I leapt at it.

******

I truly do not have long.

Cooler thought as he stared at the blood dripping down his side. It was the first true injury either of them had managed besides light scratches or marks. A ki beam he hadn't been able to dodge had scorched a small portion of his chest. It was truly a light wound but what it signified was unfortunate.

"Breaking down already?"

He should've been able to dodge that beam. He had not. His body had moved incorrectly, the muscles contracting incorrectly. He shot a few more ki blasts to obtain time and distance. It worked but he was dismayed to see even more Ki of his darkened black. What should be yellow blasts and red beams were not.

Truly, I have not been gifted with luck.

An odd feeling to have but even he had to sigh internally at having his body break down. He was not the sort to whine about events but he did have to wonder what it would have been like had he not run into law enforcement so soon after breaking out. He would be free of this facility and-

And I would have never met Mutai. Hmm. Perhaps luck favors me after all.

"Mind drifting?" The Director said, his knee rapidly coming towards his face. Only a quick dodge managed to get away but a small blast followed and a rapid exchange of elbows seemed to hammer down across his body even as he blocked as many as he could. How the Director was doing his martial arts was beyond him but it was undeniably effective. He could feel his bones shaking with the force and at singular points. If not for his innate wisdom telling him how to move, he would have suffered severe organ damage already.

"I think I may win this." Cooler suddenly said.

"Delusional? An odd symptom to have at this stage."

Cooler shook his head even as he used a ki empowered claw to knock away a ki blast and send a beam streaking towards the Director, only to have him somehow spin and knock it away with an elbow. Truly, a strange method of fighting.

"I simply have a good feeling about this."

He shot another ki blast but this time… it destabilized, blowing up far before reaching the Director.

The Director simply shook his head.

"As I figured, delusional."

Ah. Perhaps I am.